Furball 1

The trail of blood took them to a small alley that was filled with spoiled, rotten trashes. It was a dead end, and the blood disappeared abruptly as if Ouyang Xueqing was whisked away at that moment.

They were stuck.

The putrid smell were making Ling Xiaochen's stomach churned, especially when she hadn't had anything to eat for the past two days. Her head started spinning. An Zhengnan eyed her briefly before pulling her arm. "Let's go back."

For a moment, her eyes lingered on the calloused and large fingertips around her arms. She blinked and pointed behind her. "But the blood bring us there!"

"No," His jaw tightened. "It's a trap."

No sooner than the words spilled out from his mouth, suddenly the shrill cry echoed around them once again. It was the same as what they encountered last time. The difference was, this time, they could see the figure of a woman standing on the mouth of the alley clearly.

Her legs were transparent, clothes tattered and splashed in blood that had turned black, her hair messy and in the place where her eyes were supposed to be, there were nothing but empty sockets that poured out worms. The skin around her face were scorched as if it was molten by acid and poisonous substance.

"Ugh!" Ling Xiaochen felt the bile rise up on her throat as she covered her mouth. The rotten smell thickened, and it made her felt breathless.

Without a word, An Zhengnan pulled her behind him as he covered her fully. He let out a threatening growl, his ears sprang out, his nails sharpened into large, sharp claws. Unbeknownst to her, she had clung onto his back as support.

The sight of the woman terrified her so. She was Ling Xiaochen who was proud of her fearlessness and boldness, but right now, she was trembling like a newborn fawn. "W—What is that?" She whispered weakly.

"The manifestation of ghost qi."

Ling Xiaochen gasped as the revelation struck her hard. "Don't tell me, Xueqing too—"

He didn't need another word to understand her. The mere mention of Ouyang Xueqing's name were enough to turn his eyes bloodshot. As hot-blooded beast as he was, he prefer offense over defense. His legs bent as he jumped high with his claws stretched out while his body transformed mid-air onto a huge and fierce black panther.

"Grrrl!" He let out a low, loud roar as he grasped the woman's neck with his claws.

But he grabbed nothing.

Caught off guard, he rolled on the ground, his fangs lengthened vigilantly. His red pupils alertly looked around the now empty valley with only he and Ling Xiaochen remained. "Where is she?!" He barked in frustration.

Ling Xiaochen stood frozen, her eyes widened in horror. "B—Behind!"

He turned faster than the wind, merely avoiding the woman's mouth by an inch. His body rolled on the ground like an experience fighter he was. He pawed the ground as he felt his adrenaline coursed through his veins throughout his whole body. "Want to bit me, eh?"

He snickered. And this time, his speed increased twice. He was akin to a gust of wind, and in the darkness, he was like the War God equipped with his favorite sword, free and unrestrained. Invisible and unbeatable. Before the woman could react, his claws had already reached her body.

Slash!

Her body cut into two pieces like broken twigs. Black blood spilled onto the air and turned onto the poisonous mist that crawled toward them like whirling waves.

He cursed inwardly. "Don't breathe in!"

Ling Xiaochen nodded and jumped onto a nearby roof, ready to ambush the enemy.

Once again, before they knew it, she vanished onto thin air.

An Zhengnan jumped to her side as he asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She muttered and frowned anxiously. "Where does she go?"

 The roof they were standing on were not that high, only a floor higher than the ground which enabled them to clearly observed their surroundings. They stood with their back to each other as their movement synchronized. "Don't lower your guard," he warned.

They didn't know how long they remained vigilant, but the woman didn't appear again.

Ling Xiaochen pursed her lips and whispered in a low voice. "Did she escape?"

After once again checking that there's no suspicious movement, even the slightest bit of it, he finally said. "It seems so." Sighing, she could hear him let out a string of curses and she painfully aware of the reason why.

"Don't worry," she comforted him. "Xueqing will be okay."

"But—" The pool of blood, the black substance mixed in. As much as he wanted to deceive himself that she was fine, the reality whacked him so hard that he felt his head was going to burst. "Damn it!" He pulled his hair in frustration without any care that he was going to be bald before he turned three hundred.

From the corner of his eyes, he could see the half dried blood on his nails. It was that woman's blood which had splashed onto him when he slashed her just then. Suddenly, his heart sank as he lowered his gaze.

"Watch out!"

Abruptly, he yanked her toward him as they both rolled down from the roof. He subconsciously used his own body to cover her, tucking her securely in his embrace and protecting her head as they both fell thumping on the ground. He groaned, more in surprise than pain, at the chilly feel of the hard ground on his back.

"Zhengnan!" Ling Xiaochen exclaimed in shock.

Her eyes widened considerably at the sudden warmth enveloping her whole body. Before she realized it, she was already lying within his embrace, her head buried in his firm and hard chest.

"Are you okay?!" He inquired.

"Y—Yeash." She stammered, biting her own tongue in the process. How could she not be okay when he had completely used his own body as her shield? Well, her body is okay while her poor heart not.

Fortunately, she rapidly recovered herself and got up. She patted herself inwardly for not being intoxicated by his overwhelming masculine scent attacking her nose. "What was that?" She raised her head and gasped when she saw the woman standing where they had originally stood.

Flabbergasted, she pointed at the woman. "H—How—" She was both appalled and terrified so much that she couldn't even form a complete sentence.

An Zhengnan helped her stood up. "She was hiding in our shadows."

Ling Xiaochen's mouth gaped open. Shit, so powerful she could even think to hide there?!

The woman stretched her lips wide, wider, so wide that the corner of her mouth reached her ears. From there, black mist poured out like fountain. The scene was so bizarre and scary that Ling Xiaochen froze and she felt her knees trembled. Since she was small, the one thing she could never deal with was ghost!

"Xiaochen!"

She could faintly hear An Zhengnan yelled her name out loud, but she was dazed as she looked into the pair of empty void where the woman's eyes were supposed to be that seemed to glow with a red light.